A Study of Death and Dealing With It
by Bradie Daughter of Hebe
Summary: Hello, silly happy mortals. I've come to bring you a story about death. The story's not that happy, but it has... a bit of a happy ending, I suppose. Confused? Go ahead and read.


**21 ½ pages in my journal. **

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**If you catch all the Supernatural references and the one Warehouse 13 reference, you get a cookie. **

Percy couldn't stop it.

The final battle was finally being won, with all twelve Olympian gods, several minor gods, Camp Jupiter, and Camp Half-Blood fighting on the winning side.

Of course, the war wasn't without casualties. Percy had tripped over a half-filled Kool-Aid flask spattered with blood. Annabeth had found Nyssa's lifeless body sprawled near a patch of ground scorched by Greek fire. And, most tragically of all (so far), Percy's little half-sister Natalie, found writhing in a pool of her own blood, eleven-year-old hands still gripping tightly a preteen sized trident. Percy's younger brother was sitting beside her, tears rolling down his face, his armor and khaki shorts were soaked (can armor be soaked?) in her blood.

But Ben was a tough kid. When Natalie took her last breaths, Ben stood up, gripped his bow, and shot an arrow into the face of the nearest Earthborn.

Then there were the slightly amazing things.

Leo and Jason, teaming up. They still hadn't figured out which would bring the world's downfall, but storm and fire working together were pretty darn powerful.

Hannibal and Mrs. O'Leary were storming the ranks of cyclopes and Earthborn. Dozens and dozens of monsters flew out behind the two huge creatures with every bound.

Annabeth and Piper were quite the dynamic duo, stabbing monster after monster, although the only way Percy could tell the two apart (due to the heavy Greek battle armor) was a slight difference in height.

And then there were Nico, Frank, and Hazel, with the two siblings summoning rocks, jewels, bones, and whatever else they could find out of the ground. Frank was shifting between probably dozens of different animals, but the most common were bears, elephants, and weasels. Percy honestly didn't get the last one, but he was sure there was a reason.

So what was Percy doing as his friends were fighting for their lives? For one thing, kicking the butt of the minotaur. _Again. _Gaea sure liked to steal the Titans' ideas. For another? Teaming up with Athena - yes, reader, you read correctly - to kill giants. Pallas was the first. Athena had a thing for tradition. Apparently, she and Hercules defeated him the first time.

So Percy was the new Hercules. Cool.

But in the midst of riding Blackjack into Eurymedon's face, Percy heard a scream.

He knew that scream.

He _hated _that scream.

When he heard that scream, he wanted to kick puppies and yell at the elderly.

Because it was Annabeth's scream.

_Um, boss? _Blackjack began. _Was that -_

Even Percy's freaking horse knew that scream.

"Blackjack, go!"

"Percy -" Athena called, jamming her spear into Eurymedon's face, effectively delivering a death blow.

"It's Annabeth!"

Before Percy sped towards where he heard the sound, he could have sworn he saw panic and terror on Athena's face.

He saw where Piper and Annabeth had been fighting. Thanks to the freaking armor, Percy had no way of knowing whether Annabeth had screamed for Piper's sake or her own. At least not from this height.

Maybe Annabeth was okay.

One armor clad figure was lying on the ground. The other was kneeling beside her, taking off the wounded girl's helmet. When she managed to get it off, Percy saw blond curls spread across the ground.

Percy dropped into a nearly vertical dive, trying to get to Annabeth.

_Boss, _Blackjack thought warily, _you trying to get us killed? _Percy ignored him. Before Blackjack was fully on the ground, Percy had leapt off of his back and ran to Annabeth's side. There was a knife discarded nearby, the tip coated in blood.

Funny. He knew that knife from somewhere.

Annabeth weakly grasped at Percy's had and Percy held on tightly.

Percy's stomach dropped and his mouth went dry when he saw the wound. Or rather, wounds. Annabeth got pretty scraped and cut up before the final wound that just might cost Annabeth her life. Deep cuts where he armor exposed her skin, a broken arm (her knife arm, which made Percy pretty confused as to how she kept fighting after that injury), and a deep knife wound in her stomach that Percy was almost positive even Apollo couldn't heal.

"What do we do, Piper?" he whispered, swallowing the fear that crept up his throat.

"I don't know," Piper choked out, tossing her helmet to the side. "This guy just came out of nowhere, reached around her from behind and jammed his knife into her stomach."

Percy looked again at the knife, still lying on the ground. He was getting weird feelings looking at it. An idea was forming at the back of Percy's mind. A memory.

His first day at Camp Jupiter. Jupiter's temple. That knife had slaughtered Percy's stuffed animal. That knife had been in one person's hand practically Percy's entire time at the Roman camp. And now that knife nearly slaughtered Annabeth.

"Octavian," Percy growled. Annabeth looked at him with a weird look on her face, like, _What the…_

"What? How is that even remotely relevant -"

"That's - that's Octavian's knife!"

Piper's eyes narrowed and blood rushed to her face. "That - that filthy - that filthy little -" Piper began shouting curses in Ancient Greek.

Annabeth coughed a little, blood spilling from her lips. She groaned and squirmed on the ground, taking short, painful sounding breaths.

"Annabeth, it's okay. It's gonna be okay, Wise Girl," Percy promised, part of him saying, _Oh, shut up, you idiot. You really think _that's _gonna heal?_

"Percy," Piper said warily, "you look like that little voice in all of our heads is antagonizing you again."

Well hurray for intuition.

Annabeth's eyes fluttered, and Percy's heart lurched.

_Please don't die, _Percy chanted in his head. _Please, please, please, please -_

Percy's train of thought was broken when a mighty thud reached his ears, followed by hundreds of teenagers screaming in victory.

"Did we just…" Piper began.

"Win?" finished Annabeth with a small grunt. "Yeah, Pipes. I think we did."

"Annabeth, I don't care if you're dying, no one calls me Pipes but Jason. And that's only because I can't stop him." Piper took a deep breath and stared at Annabeth's wound. "Okay. Come on back, Red Cross First Aid training from fifth grade. Come back to me."

Percy heard a shuffling noise behind him, but couldn't bring himself to give a damn. Then, an armored figure stepped up behind Piper.

"Piper, look out!" Leo yelled, bursting into flame and ramming into Piper's attacker.

Percy heard another scream. This time he quite enjoyed it.

Octavian fell to the ground, raging hell-fire style.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Leo grinned as he untangled himself from Octavian. "Just lit up a bad guy. WE WON! YES! Whoa, Annabeth, what -"

"Octavian, doofus." Annabeth groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. When they opened, they were filled with tears. "Oh, dear Chuck, I don't want to die."

Percy looked into her wide grey eyes, so full of pain. Agony. Maybe a tiniest glimmer of hope. But mostly the first two.

Will Solace ran up and nearly slid to Annabeth's side. "Why is it always you?"

"Because the world frickin hates me."

"Isn't ANYBODY going to help me?!" cried Octavian, desperately trying to shake the fire off of his hands and legs.

"Not gonna work, Bucko. Fire does not listen to gravity." Leo shook his head like, _What an idiot._

"I can help," Ben said, walking up behind Percy. He raised his hand.

"Ben…" warned Percy.

"When Percy thought a wave would come crashing down over their heads through no fault of the clueless thirteen-year-old, Ben had pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it in his bow.

"Adios, Romaios."

Percy would have to thank him for that later.

Will pulled some nectar from his bag and Annabeth opened her mouth slightly. Will poured nectar into it. Annabeth swallowed, the effort seeming far too painful.

Will examined the wound, his expression turning hopeless.

Annabeth's eyes flutter shut again, but this time they didn't open. Her grip on Percy's hand slackened. "Annabeth? Annabeth, are you okay?"

"I - I can't help her." Percy's heart crawled into his throat.

"W-what?"

"The knife ripped straight through… everything."

"No. There - there has to be _something _you can do! She can't - she can't be dying!" Percy protested. "She can't die. Oh, gods, Wise Girl, don't die. Please don't die, Annabeth." Will felt for a pulse on the side of her neck. His face blanched.

"Percy…"

Percy stood up, backed away, then turned and started running.

Unfortunately, he happened to run into his dead girlfriend's mother. He stumbled, then fell on his butt.

Smooth, Hercules.

Percy couldn't speak to her. He couldn't speak to Piper, Leo, Jason, anybody. He just hat to get away. Percy scrambled to his feet and ran in another direction. He didn't know how long he ran. He didn't know when people started looking for him. He didn't know when he started crying. All he knew was that this war was finally over. And Annabeth was dead.

Gone.

Maybe she was being judged right then, standing before three golden-masked judges, protesting their almost immediate decision to send her to Elysium. It was just so _Annabeth. _Didn't want a free ride.

Maybe if Annabeth was still alive, Percy would have noticed he was in the middle of freaking nowhere. Maybe he would have thought about his friends, who would be looking for him. Only Athena probably had the slightest idea as to where he was.

And maybe she understood his need to be alone.

But he needed a distraction, too. Because every time he blinked, beautiful grey eyes flashed across his vision. Little snippets of happy memories played nonstop in his mind. A second or two of her laugh. Maybe thirty seconds of witty banter between her, Percy, and Leo.

"Found you." Nico sat down next to Percy.

"Just don't talk about it Nico. Seriously."

"No problem. I guess I know how you feel."

"No chick flick moments, dude."

"When Athena said you ran in the direction of this lovely cliff, most of us were afraid you'd jump. I wasn't. You're not the suicidal type. Reckless, yes. Emo, no."

Percy stared out across the gorge, not really listening.

"… then you gust listen to some Three Days Grace and wonder whether or not to ask Chiron if whoever wrote their songs is a demigod." Percy stared at Nico. "Or you can just revel in your sorrow and curse the world."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Hold me, Nico. That was beautiful."

XXX

Annabeth really didn't want to die.

Okay, that wasn't what was on her mind at that point. Honestly, she really wished that she'd actually bought into the heart-to-heart premise Percy brought up when he said, "Annabeth, look, if we don't make it…" Instead, Annabeth cut him off and said, "No. No goodbye speech. If this really is my last day on earth, I don't want it to be socially awkward."

Percy had actually cracked a smile at that. A real smile, not the fake ones he'd been giving since they'd begun having actual battles with giants.

Then again, nobody but Leo had really smiled lately.

Then while fighting for her life with Piper (and totally winning), she'd assumed the role of Sam Winchester in All Hell Breaks Loose, the enemy soldier driving a knife into her body.

Percy took on Dean's character, rushing towards her when she screamed. Percy was wearing the scariest expression on his face that pretty much said: Holy - crap - everyone - needs - to - get - out - of - the - way - and - my - horse - needs - to - shut - up - and - fly - so - I - can - get - to - Annabeth.

Then shock wore off. Pain - agonizing pain - kicked in. Annabeth groaned, and part of her wanted to die right then. The weak, stupid part of her. Luckily, she could force down that tiny-but-growing part of her brain.

But she couldn't do it alone.

So she reached out immediately to Percy.

Percy and Piper were talking, maybe arguing, but Annabeth didn't care. Just hearing her friends' voices, knowing that they were still alive after all those deaths, knowing they hadn't given up on her made her stronger.

Octavian huh? She always hated that scumbag Romaios. Looks like she had good reason.

Percy was reassuring her, possibly reassuring himself, too.

"Piper, look out!" Then Annabeth heard Octavian scream. Did Percy… really smile a little at that?

"Whoa, Annabeth, what -"

"Octavian, doofus. Oh, dear Chuck, I don't want to die."

Then will was there. Annabeth joked around slightly but she was scared to Hades (no pun intended).

"Isn't ANYBODY going to help me?"

_You're so vain, _Annabeth sang, _you probably think my death is about you. _Ben, bless him, shot an arrow into Mr. Combust-o. She was honestly very proud of him. He still had tear-stains on his cheeks from finding Natalie, but he still fought beside Apollo, who he got along very well with.

Annabeth knew she was done for when the pain was worse after she drank the nectar.

Annabeth's last memory was the taste of grapes leaving her tongue, then it was black.

And then she was on her feet. Maybe she was okay after all. She looked around for Percy, but her eyes fell upon a cluster of people.

Percy was holding onto the hands of a lifeless body like he couldn't live without the person. He was yelling at it, pleading.

Yelling for his Wise Girl.

Piper was crying. Will looked distraught. Ben was shaking his head with shock. Leo was simply staring sadly at this girl's body. Percy had pain, shock, anger, grief, and disbelief written all over his face.

Annabeth peeked over Percy's shoulder at the girl. She already knew who she was, and, reader, I hope you know who Annabeth saw, bloody and dead.

Herself.

But you knew that already.

Annabeth tried to put her hand on Percy's back but before she could touch him, her hand began to disappear.

And then Percy ran.

Annabeth followed him, and she almost laughed when he ran into Athena. But the distraught look on Percy's face (and the single tear running down his cheek) made her stop.

A hand grabbed Annabeth's. Natalie Pierson, Percy's dead half sister. Her large green eyes were filled with fear.

"Annabeth, what's going on?"

"Well, I'm dead. You're dead. I think Thanatos may be a little busy at the moment." The remains of monsters dusted the ground like golden snow.

"I killed some of them," Natalie said proudly, her ever-present child-size trident still strapped to her back. "But some of them killed me." Natalie sat down on the grass, monster dust scattering like dust blown off of an old book.

"Annabeth?" she whispered. "Can you stay with me until Thanatos comes to get us?"

Annabeth smiled at her. "Sure."

A few minutes later, a deep voice said from behind them, "It's time." Thanatos took Natalie's hand and put his free hand on Annabeth's shoulder.

But before they could leave, Nico ran up to them. "I'll see you, Annabeth. Best of luck, Nat."

"It's okay, Nico. I don't need it. Percy and Ben said I'd make it to Elysium. Percy'd never lie to me."

Nico smiled. "No. He wouldn't."

Then Thanatos pulled Annabeth and Natalie away from the living.

XXX

Percy couldn't sleep. Every time he dozed off, Annabeth's scream echoed in his mind, and then he was reliving every moment he'd watched Annabeth die. So Percy had to think of a slightly less painful subject - his other dead friends. He wrote them down on a piece of paper, plus there age and godly parent.

Desperate for a distraction, perhaps? Yes. But pain does that to people. It twists their minds and emotions into complicated, near-permanent knots. Annabeth used to be one of the only people who could actually untie them.

After watching Annabeth death for what seemed like - and what might have been - the hundredth time that night, Percy grabbed his list. "Annabeth. Athena. Seventeen. Nyssa. Hephaestus. 18. Natalie. Poseidon. Eleven. Dakota. Bacchus. 16. Bobby. Mercury. 15. Clarrise. Ares. 19. Hannah. Juventas. 13. Thalia. 15. Zeus."

The list was much longer than this, and could have been even longer than that, but I'm a merciful storyteller, so I'll spare you. (I understand that most of you readers are mortals whose biggest problem is lousy internet connection.)

Now, different people have different ways of coping. Leo Valdez made a list as well, although, being an optimist, it was of all the good things he could think of.

Jason Grace simply talked to himself at night. It made him seem insane, yes, but it also helped him deal with his sister's death.

Hazel Levesque drew. She drew Annabeth, Arion (who had been killed while she was fighting Porphyrion), that sweet little pre-teen (Natalia? Natalie? Hazel didn't really know her that well.), and happy memories. Percy kissing Annabeth on the cheek , Piper and Jason with their arms around one another. A side-by-side, detailed comparison of Leo and Sammy Valdez (Hazel still didn't know what was up with that, but at least she'd stopped calling Leo "Sammy.").

Piper McLean watched _Supernatural. _It showed her that love, friendship, and family typically won in the end. Even if Sam, Dean, and Cas had to die a couple times along the way.

Frank Zhang practice archery. All that night, Frank was awake, shooting arrow after occasionally explosive arrow. Eventually, he got so tired, he thought he was loading Imperial gold into the monsters that killed so many of his friends.

So what of all the dead people?

Yes, I realize that's not what you dear little mortal readers are thinking. I know that at least one of you is thinking, _When is Annabeth going to be reborn and when and where will Percy see her again? _Or maybe I just don't know mortals.

If you are thinking that, sorry to crush all your hopes and dreams (for people you don't even know, I might add) but Annabeth Chase is dead. And she isn't cruel to Percy, who is obviously waiting to meet her in Elysium.

But little Natalie was a different story.

You see, when people are reborn, they have a chance to give one last messae to a living loved one. And Ben Lewis and Percy Jackson were the only family Natalie ever really had.

So when Percy finally fell asleep that night, it was only so Natalie could talk to her brother one last time.

"Percy, I'm being reborn soon. I really wish I could remember who you were in my next life. You're strong, sweet, loyal, smart - well, sorta - and determined. You're pretty much everything I've wanted to be since Annabeth told me your stories. Thanks for being my hero."

If that's not adorable, I don't know what is.

So what about that scumbag Romaios Octavia? What happened to him? Is he to be dismembered and put back together again for eternity? Possibly by Annabeth, Percy, or Jason?

Wrong again.

Are you thinking, "Ah. This author's goin to play the doing-bad-things-does-not-make-you-a-bad-persn cared."

You're still wrong. _Octavian is not Loki._

Octavian was medically insane (but whose going to notice in a camp where the campers can get drunk off of Kool-Aid and the border gaurds are OCD, armless busts?) but he still knew right from wrong. Gaea may be manipulative, but it's the person who must make the final decision in the end. Gaea promised him power, and that mattered more to him than any loyalty.

So, yeah. Totally a bad person.

But he wasn't stupid.

So the coward decided to go through the E-Z Death line. Our favorite villain got off way to easily.

Swell. But I guess wandering around in a wheat field for all eternity with no idea who you are can be a punishment.

Ish.

But enough of the dead. Let's return to the living. More precisely, the night of the _Argo II'_s return to Camp Half-Blood.

The Romans (cough, Reyna, cough) decided to burn their dead at Camp Half-Blood. So in the ampitheater that night, two camps crammed into the stands to honor their dead. (At Piper's "request", Octavian was salted and burned.)

Percy was standing on one end of the row of shrouds and bodies, Jason at the other. Percy attempted to speak, but it wasn't very eloquent. But it came directly from his heart, and that's what matters. And in unison, Jason and Percy lit the pyre together.

When almost everyone was gone, Percy pulled Annabeth's knife from his belt and he dropped it onto the flames.

XXX

So I guess this is the end of the story.

Now for some frequently asked questions.

Did Percy ever learn to love again? He married a child of Hecate. Two kids: Natalia and Bethany.

Who are you? You'll see soon.

Why all the _Supernatural _references? I wanted them in here. That's why.

So I hope I've covered everything. I hope you've enjoyed. I hope it made you feel something.

You're wondering how I know all this. What they were feeling, thinking saying… I'd have to be a god.

Well, I am. Sort of.

My name is Clotho, the spinner. Yes, as in the three fates. I just felt a huge rush of dissent. So you know that I spin the threads of life.

But I'm a good person. Ish.

What I do occasionally, when a hero dies a hero's death, I drop their threads on the doorstep of the person closest to them.

That's right. I dropped Annabeth's string on Percy Jackson's doorway on his eighteenth birthday along with this note:

To Perseus Jackson:

You'd do well to stop cursing us. She knows you haven't forgotten. She's happy you've moved on.

-Clotho

Now, tied to the bead from that summer is a short silver thread. People have asked him about it, but he simply says is something to remember by.

XXX

So go ahead and tell me the truth about what this story made you feel. Tell me the _truth, _mortals. Aletheia is watching, dear readers. She's known to cut out liar's tongues. You've been warned.

**Officially the longest one-shot I've ever written. **

**And I think it may be the… fifth death scene ever?**

**THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE. TUMBLR KEPT DISTRACTIN ME.**

**So review. Follow me on tumblr, please? It would make me so happy.**

**Good luck locating the Supernatural references.**


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